Vehicle loading and unloading mechanism.



W. L'. MORELAND.

VEHICLE LOADING AND UNLOADING MECHANISM'.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1913.

Patented Mar. 23,1915,

2 'SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. L. MURELAND. VEHICLE LOADING AND UNLOADING MBCHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1913. I 1,1 32,960. Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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To all lwlw/'m it ma' concern. .ll

erratas rATgaua ematica WATT L. MORELAND, OF Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNoR of* .ONELHALI To MORELAND MOTOR TRUCK COMPANY, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A Com o-y RFATION OF CALIFORNIA Be it known that l, `vVA'rr L. MORELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle. Loading and Unloading Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates'to improvements in vehicle loading and unloading mechanisms, and particularly to' mechanisms adapted to remove or replace a load carrying portion of a vehicle; l p lt is an object ofthe invention to provide a centering and directing' mechanism-for facilitating the delivery of the load-carrying portion or body of a vehicleopposite agiven or desired point for discharge or loading. v v

.It is also an object of the invention to provide a motor vehicle with a removable body portion, and a means capable of operation by the power mechanism of the ve-A hicle for moving'said bodyy off the frame' of the vehicle or. replacing the same thereon.

Itis a still further obje'ct of the invention to provide a vehicleY mechanism, having a removable load-carrying body portion, with means for directing one end of the vehicle and holding-the same at a given point at a landing stage or platform. A

It is also a still further object of the invention to provide a vehicle loading and unloading means for a motor driven vehicle, in which the motor maybe connectedwith the unloading mechanism when it is desired to move the body portion of the vehicle from its frame to a landing platform or stage, or vice versa.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements. of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure lis a view of a motor vehicle audits unloading mechanism, parts being shown in side elevation and parts being shown lin longitudinal central section, the adjacent parts of a landing platform or sta e being also shown in verticalA section. Flg.- 2 is a body plan viewl of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. as, raie.

Application ledMay 28, 1913: Serial 1\To. 770,351.

a portion of the vehicle frame or chassis and also. showing a portion of the landing plat` form and the -movabl'e support for the rear end of the vehicle. Fig.,3 is a detail vertical sectional view ltaken transversely of the mechanism upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. e is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken upon the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, the' parts being shown, however, upon an enlarged sc ale. Fig. 5 is a detail transverse sectional vlew taken upon the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View taken through the rear end' of the vehicle frame or chassis lto the -forward end of the removable body ofthe vehicle, as it is just about to be carried upon the said frame or chassis, the parts being shown upon an enlarged scale. Fig. 7 isla vertical sectional view ofthe vehicle supporting platform with its movable lsupport taken upon the line 'lL-,7 of F ig.'2. Fig. 8` is an enlarged fragmentary'planview of a portion of the end- I' less chain employed for moving the body of the vehicle back and forth. Fig. 9 is a detail fragmentary sectional View through one side of the .vehicle chassis and 4of the adjacent part of the vehicle body,l but showing vthe supporting Walls for the b'odv mounted thereon instead of being attached to the side bar of the chassis. Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view taken vertically through a landing platform but showing the parts `sorelated that the body portion of the vehicle may move upon the platform upon its-own walls or casters. Fig. 11 is a detail view partially in elevation and partially in section showing a portion of an actuating cable employed in the place o'f the chain shown in Fig. 8, one of the tappet devices or detents employed thereon to be shown.

The mechanism of the present invention is designedl to alfordta nlleans whereby the loads of vehicles may be eadily transferred therefrom to a landing platform or support of any kind or be placedupon the said vehicle from said platforms or" supports, as vthe case may be`. The mechanism is adapted to' various kinds of vehicles,but more par- `ticularly to motordriven vehicles, and is esthe said vehicle. The structure of the mechanism is` such that the body portion of a vehicle may be movedl from the frame or 'chassis thereof to a platform or landing stage, floor or the like, the mechanism also being formed so that the backed up to the said stage or door will be properly directed and centered opposite the point thereon upon-which it is desired to move the body of the vehicle.

vIn' the accompanying drawing the preferred structure of the mechanism forming the subject matter of the present Yinvention hasbeen illustrated, and the details and features thereof will now be more specifically described. lin said drawing 10 indicates the frame orqchassis of a motor vehicle, 11 a motor mounted thereon and 12 and 13 the front andv rear wheels respectively of said vehicle. rlhe vehicle is constructed with a removable body portion 14, of any desired shape or size, and the bottom of saidbody portion isprovided with longitudinal supporting sills or beams 15, under edges of which are secured guiding strips 16, preferably made in the form of channel stripsas clearly shownvin lFigs. 3, and 5 of the drawings.- The vehicle chassis 10 may be of any usual or ordinary type,

more generally of the commercial truck type, and brackets 17 are mounted upon theouter sides of the beams forming the sides of said chassis, the said brackets having rollers l18 journaled therein. The position of the said rollers 18 is such that they will simultaneously engage the grooves in the under sides of channel strips 16.- 'Ihe body 14 of the vehicle is'thus movably mounted upon the said rollers and will be guided in its movement by the channel strips 16 engaging said rollers. y

In transferring thetbody 14 `in loaded or unloaded condition to a landing platform or floor, it is preferable; to provide means whereby the said `body may be inoved about from place to place upon said iioor or platform. A; truck or wheeled frame 19 is pref'- erably provided for this purpose, the frame of said truck 19 being made somewhatsimilar lto the chassis or vehicle frame 10 and of the lsame width, so that the lbody 14 will fit thereon. The frame of they trujck 19 Ais 'mounted upon suitable rollers or casters v20 and lhas brackets 21- attached to the sides thereof, 'similar to the brackets 17 upon the chassis .and provided withsup orting rollers 22.- When the rear end o the vehicle is brought opposite the said truck- 19v and the body 14 moved ofi' from the same, the channell'strips 16 will run upon the rollers 22v of lthe said truck19 and guide'thebody 14 into proper position thereon for trans-V portation to any part of the floor or platform. 1n order te guide the truck 19 toa suitable point Opposite the vehicle, tracks-.or

end of' a vehicle to the 3 with a guiding means mounted upon thev said platform or floor -v24. r1`he said guiding and centering mechanism preferably con? sists of a wedge member25 carried by the vehicle chassis and usually secured to the under side thereof, the said centering means also comprising a wedge receiving member or plate 26 mounted in the edge and upper surface of the platform 24. rl`he wedge member 25 is made of sufficient length to be bolted or riveted vto the under side of the cross bars of the chassis 10 and is also formed with a Wide and thick head portion approximately arrow shaped in top plan view as clearly illustrated inb` ig. 2 of the drawing. The pointed edge of said wedge which is mounted beneath the rear cross bar of the chassis 10 is quite narrow, coming almost to a point while the wide part of said wedge is made of such .width as to move the chassis laterally .to a considerable extent in placing the vehicle opposite the truck 19. r1`he coperating wedge member 26 which is mountedv in a correspondingly shaped. depression formed in the platform 24 as shown in Figs. l and 4, is made with an inclined wall 27 and diverging sides 28 adapted to receive the pointed end of the wedge member 25 as the vehicle is backed toward the platform, the diverged side portions 28 guiding the wedge toward the midl dle portion of the member 26. The incline floor 24 of said member 26 also tends to lift the -wedge member 25 when the 'vehicle' is so heavily loaded as to depress its springs. lt will be observed by reference to Fig. 1 that the underside of the wedge point 25 is beveled at 30 'to engage and slide upwardly upon the incline Hoor 27 of the said member 26. To prevent friction at the outer edges of the member 26 anti-friction rollers 31 are mounted upon the vertical axes at the entrance portions to said member 26. The incline sides edges of the wedge member 25 engaging the said anti-friction rollers 31 will move readily* and easily into said member 26. The wedgemembers 25 and 26 may be inade of any .desired structural forms and are preferably formed as indicated in the transverse sectional view taken through the said parts in Fig. 4, so that they may be comparatively light and yet amply strong forthe purposes required.

In order to utilize the guiding and center-- lil@ 'ably supported during the time that the Wedge membersl are coming together. In order to lmake this possible, a 'movable support or plate 32 is located in the pavement, roadway or street opposite the wedge member 26, I'the said 'plate 32 being of a proper width to support the rear or drive Wheels 13 during :the time that the wedgemembers 25 -an'd 26 are in engagement with each other. llhcpla'te 32 is preferably elongated on-a 'rectangular plate of sufficient thickness tosupport Vthe vveight of the vehicle and. roller bearings 33 are located in a housing 34 beneath Athe said plate 32. The plate 32 is made somewhat 'shorter than the inner longitudinal diameter of the housing 34 so that the said plate 32'may move say lat least six inches each Way from its center position in said housing 34. Cross retaining plates 35 are provided at the ends of the housing 34 to cover the 'spaces between the ends `of the plate 32 and the ends of the housing 34 'as clearly shown in Fig. 2. It will be observed that the plate 32 supported upon the ball bearings 33 will readily move in either direction with the Wheels of the vehicle as the Wedge 25 guides the rear end of the chassis to its proper position opposite the truck 19. In order to normally hold the said plate 32 in its central position before the truck rests upon the same, said plate is provided With a centrally located depending projection 36 upon its under surface and longitudinal rod, 37 extends through said projection and is clamped `therein. by set screw 38, the outer ends of said rod vextending through apertures in guide brackets 39 secured in the housing 34. Centering springs 40 and 41 are slipped upon the rod 37 upon each `side of the depending projection 36, their outer ends bearing against the brackets 39 and thus tending to center the said plate 32. The springs 40 and 41 are madesuificiently light, however, as not to interfere, in any Way, with the movement of the plate 32 in accommodating itself to the position taken by the vehicle under the action of the Wedge 25.

The movement of the body 14 longitudinally upon the chassis 10 is effected by means of an endless flexible member, as for instance, the sprocket chain 42 which engages sprocket Wheels 43 and 44 mounted at 'the front and rear portions of the said chassis 10. The chain is arranged to run l underneath the longitudinal central portion of the said body 14. and the intermediate portions of its upper and lower laps are prevented from sagging by traveling over strips or lbars 45 and 46 secured centrally -of the chassis and upon transverse braces connecting the sides thereof. The rear sprocket Wheel 44 is carried by al bracket 47 secured to the rear cross bar of the chassis 10. The forward sprocket Wheel 43 is mounted apen and rigidly secured te am actuating shaft 48 jeurnaled 1in vbrackets 49 sprocket wheel 53, said sprocket Wheel being connected by a sprocket chai-'n 54 with, a sprocket wheel 55 connected with a change gear mechanism 56. The said change mechanism is of any desired type and is -so arranged that the sprocket wheel 55 may b e driven either in one direction or the other for actuating the Worm and moving, through the mechanism described, the chain 42. A hand lever 57 is connected by means of link 58 with a shift-- ing. lever 59 adapted to change the gears and thus control the direction of movement of the saidb'ody 14. The said change gear mechanism 56 is provided with a gear 60 secured to a 'squared portion of the engine or motorshaft 61 Aand is adapted to mesh with gear 62 forming a part of the change gear mechanism 56 for moving the body in oneV direction and is also 4adapted to mesh When'moved longitudinalof the engine shaft 61, with a gear 63 which meshes with a gear 64 also secured to the shaft of the gear 62. The position of the intermediate gear 63 will thus cause the body to be moved in the opposite directions. The gear 61 is also f capable of being brought to a position as indicated in dotted lines at 65 in Fig. 1 so as to not engage either of the gears 62 or 63 and, therefore, not actuate the body moving mechanis It will be understood that any desired form of change gear mechanism may be substituted for that described but the mechanism just set forth is found in practice to be admirably adapted for the accomplish ment of the desired purpose. The structure of the mechanism is such that the body may be moved by the motor 11 which is' employed to drive or propel the vehicle itself.

The operation of the loading and unloading mechanism will be readily understood in connection with vthe above description. When the chauffeur is about to approach the landing floor or stage 24 he backs the vehicle toward the same and approximately directs the rear end of the vehicle toward the wedge 26. The wedge 25 Will engage the said member 26 even when the chauifeur has not succeeded in moving the vehicle very close to the proper alinement for moving the body upon the truck 19. By the .time the Wedge members have begun to entruck 19 which is also put in place by running it upon channel tracks 23. Upon stopping the vehicle, thus properly positioned, the chauffeur has only to move the lever y.57, with his motor clutch disconnected, in order to arrange the change gears in readiness for moving the body 14. Upon lifting his foot from the clutch lever and permitting the engine to turn the shaft 61, the sprocket chain 42 will be actuated for moving the body 14 from the chassis tothe truck 19. By the use of interchangeable bodies and having a plurality of them on hand, another truck 19 may be movedj into place with a loaded body and be arranged to engage the chain 42 so that it maybe drawn upon the chassis andtransported with its load to any desired destination. ln order to be capable of engaging the actuating chain 42 the body 14 is provided with a bracket 66.preferably at its forward end. having a downturned bifurcated portion 67 adapted to embrace the said chain 42. rll`he lower ends of said bifurcated portion are preferably widened as at 68, so as to readily hook upon and engage rollers 69 secured to journals 70, which project from opposite links of the chain 42, as clearly shown in lFig. 8. A removable pin 83 may be used. if desired and passed through apertures in' the lower ends of the bifurcated portion 67 to prevent the chain from dropping too low at intermediate positions in path. llwo sets of journals 70 and rollers 69 are preferably provided upon the chain 42 at a suitable distance from each other, as shown in lig. 6, one set being adapted to pull ythe body from the truck 19 upon the chassis, while the other or forward set, when on the upper lap of the chain, is adapted to push the body portion 14 od the chassis. rl`he rear set of rollers 69 will pass downwardlyand around the sprocket wheel 44, so as to be out of the way when the body is being pushed olf the chassis. It will be understood that other forms of flexible driving members may be employed instead of the chain 42 without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, as shown in Fig. 11, a cable 71 vmay be used, if preferred, and tappet rollers 72 be secured thereto, by means of a sleeve 73 fastened to said cable. rll`he action of the parts in acting upon the bracket 66 will be the same as when the chain 42 is used. llt will be also understood that otherdetails of the invention may be altered and mechanical equivalents substituted therefor, within the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the body of the vehicle may have its supporting wheels or rollers as74 carried by brackets 75 secured to its sills 76, as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, the wheels at the center of the body being preferably in fixed brackets, as shown inFig. 9,.while the end wheels, as shown-in F ig. 10, may be in the incasso front face of edge of the said platform or door, as clearly shown in lE`ig.l10. The action of the parts is practically the same as heretofore described with respect to the use of the truck 19.

A loading and unloading devicel of this character is found especially usefulin connection with commercial vehicles where it is desirable to load one body while another,

previously loaded, is being transported to its destination. Upon the return of the vehicle with its empty body, the said body can be readily run od from the chassis and to apoint upon the door or platform where it may be reloaded, and at the same. time a loaded body may be again placed upon vthe chassis for delivery without keeping the vehicle idle. v

'll he change gear mechanism employed for facilitating the movement of the body of the vehicle is preferably so located as to permit of the use of the usual clutch provided with the motor. rllhus, as illustrated ,in lFig. 1, the said change gear mechanism is arranged between the motor 11 and its clutch and the change gear mechanism 81 controlling the driving wheels of the vehicle. lt will be evident, however, that other relative arrangements of parts capable of the same results may be used within the spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles comprising a centering'member projecting from the vehicle frame, a cooperatin guide member secured to a landving plat orm and means upon the vehicle for actuating the load carrying portion thereof for moving it from the frame to the landing platform or replacing it upon said vehicle frame.

2. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles comprising a laterally movable support to receive the wheels of the vehicle and means for moving the vehicle and thereby the said support opposite the poirttg.l

where the loading and unloading operation is to be effected.

3. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles comprising a movable floor adapted to receive the weight of the vehicle and a wedge mechanism for moving the vehicle opposite the unloading point.

4. A loading and unloading mechanism end of the vehicle and mechanism for moving the load carrying portion of the vehicle from the frame of the vehicle to the said truck.

6. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles, comprising in combination with a vehicle frame having a removable vehicle body portion, of rollers mounted upon said frame portion and adapted toasupport said vehicle body portion, guideways carried by said vehicle body portion and engaging said rollers, a body receiving truck having rollers thereon and wedgingmeans for bringing the vehicle body into alinement with the said truck whereby the guideways will engage the rollers of said truck, when the vehicle body is moved from the frame thereof to said truck.

7. In an unloading' mechanism for vehicles the combination with a vehicle chassis and a motor for driving the same, of a movable load carrying body mounted on said chassis, an endless vchain for actuating said body, tappets secured to said chain, a bracket mounted upon the said body and adapted to engage said tappets, worm gearing for driving said chain and an intermediate change gear mechanism for communicating movement from the vehicle motor to said worm gearin whereby the body portion may be move back and forth. l

8. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles comprising a Wedge carried by a vehicle, stationary means for engagin the Wedge capable of moving a portion o? the vehicle laterally and coperating means for movably supporting the portion of the vehicle to be moved. y

9. A loading and unloading mechanism for vehicles comprising a directing projection carried by the vehicle frame, a coperating landing guide for receiving said projection, a movable platform arranged to receive the wheels of the vehicle, said fplatform having a projection upon its underside, springs, engaging said projections upon opposite sides thereof and means forming abutments for said springs, the springs being capable of yielding to permit the moving of the vehicle and platform under the action of the guiding projection and yet tending to return the platform' to its normal central position after the Vehicle has been run ofi' from said platform.l

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set vmy hand, in presence of two witnesses! WATT L. MORELAND.

Witnesses CAssELL SEVERANCE, LILLm VoLLMER. 

